Good Beer Guide salutes the great pub revival

Press Release

Issue Date: 22nd September

Immediate Release

Good Beer Guide salutes the great pub revival

The 2017 edition of the Good Beer Guide, GBG, published by the Campaign For Real Ale, CAMRA, celebrates the big fight back by the much-loved British pub. Editor Roger Protz says "that while traditional pubs continue to close, new types of pubs are opening at a fast rate and are drawing large crowds of enthusiastic drinkers."

"It's tragic that pubs that have been the heart of their communities for decades and even centuries continue to close – though the closure rate is declining to around 21 a week. But they are being replaced by new pubs, often in the most unlikely places," Protz says.

"The national JD Wetherspoon group plans to open eight new pubs from Scotland down to the West Country. The first is in the former booking office at Edinburgh's Waverley Station.

"It's full steam ahead for pubs in train stations as Waverley joins London's Euston, Paddington, King's Cross and St Pancras, all with excellent pubs, along with stations in Newcastle, Sheffield and York.

"Fuller's Parcel Yard at King's Cross Station is in the former pick-up and delivery area for Red Star packages. Set over two floors, packed with railway memorabilia and with views of trains arriving and leaving, the Parcel Yard is now one of the Chiswick brewery's most successful pubs, offering good food as well as a fine range of guest beers from smaller breweries."

In Manchester a number of new pubs have sprung up in old railway warehouses and arches. The Knott, opposite Deansgate Station, stands below the bridge that carries both trains and the Metro. It offers beers from independent breweries in the Northwest and caters for modern demands with many vegetarian and vegan options on its menu.

The Piccadilly Tap stands in the arcade of shops leading to the station. It has seats on the pavement as well as in the large airy bar and beers from local breweries are available to drink on the premises or in carryout containers for train journeys. Close by, Beer Nouveau is in old railway buildings in – of all places – Temperance Street. It's a small brewery run by Steve Dunkley, who plans to add a tasting room and a facility where customers can brew their own beer.

In the Northeast, at Monkseaton in Tyne & Wear, a new pub called the Left Luggage Room is based in a building previously used for storing bags and parcels in the train station, now part of the Metro line.

Micro-pub boom

The Good Beer Guide - this year sponsored by real ale quality assessor Cask Marque - also salutes the boom in micro or pop-up pubs.

"In just a few short years, micropubs have become a national phenomenon," Roger Protz says. "The number has grown to more than 250, with just under half making it into the Good Beer Guide, and 29 of them have their own in-house breweries as well."

Micropubs regularly win CAMRA awards and two of them are still in the running for CAMRA's National Pub of the Year competition. The Brookstead Alehouse in Worthing and the Arvon Ale House in Llandrindod Wells have made the final shortlist of 16 regional winners, and will now hope to be named in the final four "super-regional" pubs competing for the coveted prize.

Martyn Hillier opened the first of the breed, the Butcher's Arms in Herne, Kent, in 2005. As the name implies, it's based in a former butcher's shop and has room for 10 people sitting and 20 standing, with beer served from the former butcher's cold store. Others are based in a variety of premises. Including funeral parlours, hairdressers and pet shops.

The just-opened Bumble Inn in Westgate, Peterborough, run by Tom Beran, is in a former pharmacy and can accommodate 35 people. It stands in sharp comparison to the Oakham Brewery Tap a few yards away, sited in a former Labour Exchange, and claimed to be the biggest brewpub in Europe. A second micropub is underway in Peterborough in a former bookmaker's in Church Street.

"You can't keep the good old British pub down," Roger Protz says. "It has always regenerated itself over the centuries and made spirited comebacks after wars and Puritan revolutions. Now beer lovers can enjoy great beer in often amazing and bizarre surroundings as a new wave of enthusiasts rides to the pub's rescue."

Micropubs featured in the Good Beer Guide

ENGLAND

Beds

Old Transporter Ale House, Henlow

Berks

Cow & Cask, Newbury

Cambs

Drayman's Son, Ely

Bank Micropub, Willingham

Cheshire

Barley Hops, Congleton (Also a bottled beer shop)

Derbyshire

Ale Stop, Buxton

Chesterfield Alehouse, Chesterfield

Burnt Pig, Ilkeston

Stanley's Alehouse, Matlock

Chip & Pin, Melbourne

Beer Parlour, Whittington Moor

Devon

Pig & Pickle Taphouse, Exeter

Dorset

Firkin Shed, Bournemouth

Wight Bear Ale House, Southbourne

Durham

Green Hops Real Ale Bar, Billingham

Golden Smog, Stockton-on-Tees

Essex

Billericay Brewing Co Shop & Micropub, Billericay

Hop Beer Shop, Chelmsford

Farmers Yard, Maldon

Gloucs & Bristol

Drapers Arms, Bristol: Horfield

Pear Tree Micropub, Charfield

Black Pig Ale House, Newnham

Hampshire

Butcher's Hook, Southampton

Herefordshire

Beer in Hand, Hereford

Kent

Wheel Alehouse, Birchington-on-Sea

Thirty-Nine Steps Alehouse, Broadstairs

Just Reproach, Deal

Lanes, Dover

Mash Tun, Dover

Furlongs Ale House, Faversham

Firkin Alehouse, Folkestone

Past & Present, Gillingham

Compass Alehouse, Gravesend

Butcher's Arms, Herne

Bouncing Barrel, Herne Bay

Two Halves, Margate

Hair of the Dog, Minster-in-Thanet

Conqueror Alehouse, Ramsgate

Hovelling Boat Inn, Ramsgate

Four Candles Alehouse, St Peter's

Yard of Ale, St Peter's

Paper Mill, Sittingbourne

10:50 From Victoria, Strood

Tankerton Arms, Tankerton

Black Dog, Whitstable

Lancashire

Barlick Tap Ale House, Barnoldswick

Bankers Draft, Barrowford

New Brew-m, Burnley

Snug, Carnforth

Shepherds Hall Ale House, Chorley

Boyce's Barrel, Colne

Market Ale House, Leyland

Leicestershire

Beerhouse, Market Harborough

Lincolnshire

Priors Oven, Spalding

Greater London

Upminster TapRoom, Upminster (East London)

Long Pond, SE9: Eltham (South-east London)

Beer Rebellion, SE16: Rotherhithe (South-east London)

Beer Rebellion, SE19: Gipsy Hill (South-east London)

Broken Drum, Blackfen (South-east London)

Penny Farthing, Crayford (South-east London)

One Inn the Wood, Petts Wood (South-west London)

Door Hinge, Welling (South-west London)

Greater Manchester

Grocers, Cadishead

Chiverton Tap, Cheadle Hulme

Heaton Hops, Heaton Chapel

Micro Bar, Manchester: City Centre

Doc's Symposium, Wigan

Merseyside

Corner Post, Crosby

Liverpool Pigeon, Crosby

Lazy Landlord Ale House, Liscard

Cask, Liverpool: Stoneycroft

Tap & Bottles, Southport

Northamptonshire

Early Doors, Daventry

Little Ale House, Wellingborough

Northumberland

Curfew, Berwick upon Tweed

Office, Morpeth

Nottinghamshire

Abdication, Daybrook

Beer Shack, Mansfield

Just Beer Micropub, Newark

Doctor's Orders, Nottingham

Staffordshire

Whippet Inn, Lichfield

Bridge Street Ale House, Newcastle-under-Lyme

King's Ditch, Tamworth

Cask & Pottle, Tutbury

Surrey

Cobbett's Real Ales, Dorking (also an off-licence)

Radius Arms, Whyteleafe

East Sussex

Watchmaker's Arms, Hove

Brooksteed Alehouse, Worthing

West Sussex

Old Star Ale & Cider House, Shoreham-by-Sea

Anchored in Worthing, Worthing

Tyne & Wear

Split Chimp, Newcastle upon Tyne: City Centre

Warwickshire

Lord Hop, Nuneaton

Rugby Tap, Rugby

Stratford Alehouse, Stratford-upon-Avon

West Midlands

Hail to the Ale, Wolverhampton

Wiltshire

Hop Inn, Swindon

Worcestershire

Little Ale House, Bromsgrove

Yorkshire (East)

Chequers Micropub, Beverley

Butchers Dog, Driffield

Stackhouse Bar, Hornsea

Yorkshire (North)

Gallagher's Ale House, Cross Hills

Dr Phil's Real Ale House, Middlesbrough

Infant Hercules, Middlesbrough

Stumble Inn, Scarborough

Beer Engine, Skipton

Yorkshire (South)

Beer House, Sheffield: West

Yorkshire (West)

Calan's Micropub, Hebden Bridge

Cap & Collar, Saltaire

OddFellows, Shipley

WALES

Glamorgan

Little Penybont Arms, Pencoed

Gwent

Queen's Head, Chepstow

Mid Wales

Arvon Ale House, Llandrindod Wells

SCOTLAND

Borders

Rutherfords, Kelso

COPY ENDS

Notes to editors:

Beer quality assessor Cask Marque has sponsored the 2017 Good Beer Guide. Cask Marque makes over 22,000 unannounced visits to pubs each year and tests each cask ale on sale for temperature, appearance, aroma and taste. They are also the number one provider of Cellar Management Training in the UK.

The 44th edition of the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide will be published in September and will list the best 4,500 pubs in the country chosen by its 180,000-plus membership.